New Album: “Smiling with No Teeth” by Genesis Owusu

I came across one of the tracks (“A Song About Fishing”) on one of my new music Friday playlist’s and I found myself unable to click away from the song, as I was about to switch to some focused listening music for a studying session.

But as I heard this track play out I clicked over to the album which I found out came out today (March 5th, 2021).

I let that track play and then listened to the one right after (“No Looking Back”) and then the one immediately following that track (“Bye Bye”) since that was the last track of the album. These were a trio of mellow songs that I could have focused to but was so intrigued by the initial novelty of hearing it that I ended up just focusing on the music.

I ended up playing the album from the beginning.

“Drown” was a stand out track. Loved something about the feel of this track and the hook. “Gold Chains” had a melodic beat and vibe. “Black Dogs!” is slipped in like I wouldn’t notice the punk-noise, hard-not-to-be-noticed track. Followed by a similar track, “Whip Cracker”. “Easy” was a funky, groovy jam. Then we came back to “A Song About Fishing” that I discussed earlier and was the initial track I heard. This track hits different from the jump! There’s a retro-melodic-nostalgic vibe to this track. Likewise for the next track “No Looking Back”!! This is also my jam!! (The album is almost broken into these mini-chunks. Like the punk-vibe from the middle of the album to this retro vibe towards the end heard in these tracks.)

The album artwork is striking. A face that seems to be grinning behind white cloth bandages wrapped around the nose and rest of the head, with gold grills exposed as bottom teeth and gold rings adorning all three visible fingers (index, middle and ring) that are held up to his face.

Artist: Genesis Owusu

Album: Smiling with No Teeth

Release Date: March 5th, 2021

Label: House Anxiety / Ourness